After reminding us about that “investigation” into the imaginary Islamic Tax, she called for a boycott of Cadbury chocolate products. This is because she read on the internet that Cadbury is “halal certified” and as we all know, everything you read on the internet is 100% true.

Hanson endorsed Lindt and Darrell Lea because they are “Australian made”, “available at your local newsagent” and supposedly unsupportive of the “Islamisation of Australia”.

On last night’s The Project, co-host Peter Helliar asked Aly why he couldn’t just enjoy a nice Lindt chocolate bunny like the rest of us.

“I eat these all the time. These are awesome”, replied Aly as he grabbed the Lindt rabbit from Helliar.

Aly then checked the ingredients and added that the bunny is “entirely halal” as it is “all vegetarian”.

He also doubled down on his statement and proceeded to eat the chocolate rabbit right there and then.

As Aly enjoyed the treat, co-host Carrie Bickmore did note he was guilty of something: he didn’t share any with his colleagues.

Halal literally means “permissible” in Arabic and refers to items that Muslims are able to consume in accordance with their religion. Non-halal items include alcohol, pork or blood in liquid form.

The value of the Australian halal certification industry can’t be quantified and Ms Hanson’s estimate of $3 trillion conflates the value of the global food market with the value of the halal certification market. While the proceeds of halal certification do fund Islamic organisations, Fact Check could find no evidence that this money has ever flowed to terrorist groups.

Since we live in a “post-truth” era, so-called “facts” are likely to do little to change Hanson’s mind. In her world, eating chocolate equals supporting Islamic terrorism.

Yes, Pauline. And in other news, I’m the Easter Bunny.

About the author

Stefan is an Adelaide-based freelance writer. In his spare time, he plays tennis badly, collects vinyl and brushes up on his Mandarin. Follow Stefan on Twitter